>> announcer: and now, from washington's leading news station. this is news 4 at 1:00. >> a house on fire. the family was away and the hidden danger blamed for this

massive scene. >> same-sex couples in maryland soon may make history. tomorrow could be a big day before they marry. >> invasion of privacy or informational tool. the device one tv service provider wants to put inside your home. >> we begin tonight with breaking news. a dramatic scene in springfield, virginia. firefighters went to a house with flames shooting through the roof. >> tonight, investigators think a gas leak may be to blame. shomari stone is live on the scene. >> reporter: there is an active scene out here right now. fire investigators are here right now. they have their flashlights trying to figure out skpaktly what sparked this blaze. it was a huge response. dozens of firefighters. the sides of this house is destroyed. let me show you some amateur home video released moments ago. fairfax county firefighters say

flames were shooting out of the roof when they arrived. the firefighters on scene forced their way inside. they had to tear out the wall. it was completely engulfed in flames and they had to put it out. now, tonight, they suspect that a natural gas line located on the side of the house started leaking and something ignited. let's show you some video from chopper 4. right now, they're trying to figure out what caused this thing to spark. the good news is the neighbors didn't have to evacuate and the family who lives here wasn't home at the time. >> i have mixed feelings. on the one hand, my rational side says, of course, we'll get through this. it's very emotional. they were kind enough to bring my scrapbooks out and i put those in a neighbor's house. i'm happy about that. that's what i really cared about was the pictures. >> reporter: now, she says that that scrapbook is priceless. she's happy to have it back. she cannot find her katz.

the cat was in here, the house got on fire. they can't live here for the next few days. live here in springfield, virginia, news 4. >> we have more breaking news this time in prince george's county in maryland where investigators are on the scene of a serious car crash. it's off route 197. we're told two people were inside that car when the driver lost control. both were thrown from the vehicle. one of the victims is in the hospital now with life-threatening injuries. >> a row house burst into flames last night on first street. police found 42-year-old jeffrey osik unconscious inside the home. he later died. he worked for the u.s. agency for international development and he traveled the world working in 40 different countries. >> they found a gun in a student's locker at a school in fair fax county.

administrators notified police and sent a letter home to parents. students involved have been questioned by the police. they are now facing disciplinary action. >> a memorial service at the kennedy center will remember a young falls church woman who was killed in the caribbean. the 22-year-old died in a snorkeling accident last weekend. the university of virginia senior was part of a semester at sea program. she was on a pry vat snorkeling trip with other stunts. >> tonight, detectives are out trying to find clues in the murder of a teenager in maryland. the victim was 14 years old. shot and killed in lewisdale section, less than a mile from his house. this evening, officers are going door-to-door with fliers to try to get some information. police believe elizir raus was

with two known gang members when he was killed at about 1:00 this morning. a neighbor says he heard at least five shots. >> it's a big step for same-sex couples in maryland. tomorrow, marriage licenses will start being issued for people who plan to tie the knot in the new year when the law goes into effect. erica gonzalez is in rockville with the details. >> reporter: in less than a month, same-sex marriage will be legal in the state of maryland. but starting tomorrow, couples can head to their county clerk's office and get a post-dated marriage license to avoid a backlog in january 1, 2013. county clerks have the option. it doesn't mean they have to. after a proposal on facebook, akil and louis are planning a wedding of their own.

>> i don't care what anybody says. first, i looked at him and i said yes, i will marry you. and then i looked at my phone and i did it again. >> and now that they can, the couple tells me they'll be filing for their marriage license sooner rather than later. event planners like nicole neil say their agenda is quickly filling with same-sex couple weddings. >> before we voted, i've signed 10. >> there could be a hiccup in the plan comet tomorrow. i'm told that the computer systems aren't planned to handle marriage licenses that are post-dated a month in advance. so loretta knight tells me tomorrow could be problematic. in montgomery county, news 4. >> president obama and house speaker john boehner talked by telephone today about the fiscal cliff. lawmakers have until december

31st to reach a deal to avoid dramatic tax heights and budget cuts. the president wants higher taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year. to make up $1.6 trillion in 10 years. republicans want to close loopholes, make half as much money and not raise taxes. businessman greg hall files an appeal. neither should get the seat. the democratic central committee has nominated hall to replace alston. the judge ruled that governor omaley will pick the next one. >> a court battle between a home contractor and an unhappy customer. a judge in fairfax county has

ordered a woman, the homeowner, to remove parts of her posts on yelp and on angie's list. jane perez is the homeowner. she complained about repairs. she also claimed that some of her jewelry disappeared while the contractor had the only other key to her home. the contractor is named christopher dietz. the judge says that the woman's po posts about her jewelry goes too far and she has to remove that part of her accusation. >> people have a right to write a review that's honest and truthful. if it's negative and true, that's fair. but when it's negative and true, that's not fair. >> this is a preliminary injunction in dietz's $750,000 defamation lawsuit. >> drivers love a proposal that will slash the tolls on the intercounty connector. but the idea isn't getting support from highway officials. montgomery councilman phil

andrews first introduced this idea saying the lack of traffic makes the road look more like an airport runway. at midday, traffic along all 18 miles from montgomery to prince george's county was sparse. drivers pay as much as $8 round trip on the icc. andrews claims that reducing the toll cost by half would increase traffic, reduce congestion on other roads and bring in the same revenue. >> i use it a couple times a month. i would use it more frequently, but i think the tolls are ridiculous. >> i use it, but not often. it's extensive. >> the maryland transportation authority says tolls are already at the low-end of the approved range. it also claims the icc is meeting its goals since the road was built to anticipate traffic volume in 20 years. police are trying to figure out who tried to blast their way into an atm in fredericksburg, virginia. surveillance video showed

someone planting explosive at the virginia credit union about 4:00 this morning. but it wasn't strong enough to break open the atm. >> kind of warm early today, but not anymore. veronica, is it going to get colder tonight? >> that it is, for sure. it's gotten a little uncomfortable for us. the wind, there is still some wind out there. but i still skpnt it to settle on down. but all of us walking a little faster from inside in. and here's the reason why. the temperatures have really dropped. we're at 39 degrees right now. you folks in franconia. look at the current windchill readings. shave 6-7 degrees off the air temp and you've got it. another opportunity for a warm up. stick around for my forecast. >> the distriblgt is about to get more help for sandy clean up. today, president obama declared a major disaster in d.c.

ordering federal aid to supplement efforts. the president made an emergency declaration for the district shortly after sandy. but a major declaration means more long-term federal aid. >> coming up tonight, a dramatic end to a 10-hour stand off up in new york city. >> plus, big brother or brilliant? tonight, a major service provider wants to track your every move inside your home. we'll tell you why. >> and local leaders with

breaking news in northwest d.c. a stabbing that occurred in the 1600 block of rhode island avenue. >> he is conscious, he is breathing. no word of any arrests. >> a dramatic end to a 10-hour stand off in newburg, new york. he was wanted for firing a gun at two men back in september. investigators say when they atechted to arrest him this morning shlgs a suspect pulled a gun and barricaded the man inside his house. >> tracking your every move. verizon has new technology that records you inside your home.

the idea? to caterer tv ads to your actions. some think it's creepy and crosses the line. jim rosenfield shows it how it would work. >> government contractor michelle peters watches on demand in southeast. she doesn't like the idea of being watched in her own living room. >> i just want to enjoy my show. i want to fall asleep in front of the couch and not worry about watching somebody fall asleep. >> that's exactly what verizon is working on according to this patent application. >> at least it's going to be clear. >> a dvr-type device designed to tailor ads based on what you're doing while you're watching tv. the device would detect thijs like curdling, aurging, exercising or even if a pet is in the room. and then add to it for things like romantic get aways,

relationship counselors or flea treatments. >> i think it's an invasion of privacy. >> nbc technology points out we already allow our phones and our computers to track aspects of our activity. this is just the next step. >> just the idea of checking into locations and telling our friends where we are. that would seem pretty creepy five years ago. but nowadays, everybody is doing it. >> in a statement verizon tells nbc 4, the company has a track record of protecting their personal information adding while we do not comment on pending patent applications, such futuristic patent filing are routine. >> innovative, perhaps. but michelle says she's content channel surfing in private, confident that what happens in her living room stays in her living room. >> there are new findings tonight that could change the

way doctors treet breast cancer. a study by the university of oxford says the drug may help patients live longer. most breast cancer patients stay on tamoxifen stay on the drug for five years. >> some patients do experience some side effects. but researchers say the benefits out weigh the risks. >> two australian radio hosts are apologizing tonight for a prank call that revealed controversial information about kate middleton. >> yeah, could i please speak to kate, please, my granddaughter. >> yes, just wait one moment. >> thank you. >> after badly impersonating the queen and prince charles, the d.j.s were actually connected to a nurse in middleton's ward. she revealed the dutchess of

camb rirks dge had not experienced any morning sickness. the pranksters said they did not think they would be put through. the hospital is reviewing protocol and is considering taking legal action against that radio station. >> welt u it's mighty chilly out there. >> whoa, walk faster. just go. all right. well, we're going to go, too. outside, yes, we still have some wind. let's head on outside and talk about what is going on. we're at 42 degrees. regan national. yes, we still have some wind. in fact, regan national is blowing at 16 miles per hour. we're going to see the wind settle down more and more during the overnight period. 42 degrees, currently. >> all right, 30s up here where

those windchills may be about 6 degrees lower than that. >> tomorrow, one cold day or coldest day that we have seen in the last week. so let me get you through the morning. tomorrow morning, by the time you hit 7:00 a.m., sunshine, yes. 34 degrees the temperature. sun is up tomorrow at 7:13. as we go through the morning, we're going to stay in the 30s for a while. yok we' i don't think we're going to hit 40 degrees until about 11:00 a.m. a clear and cold morning for us. high pressure has moved in. tomorrow, we'll feel like every bit like december. >> you'll need the umbrella if you're going to be out late friday night, early saturday morning with rain saturday. i'm not really worried about our

weekend rain chances because it's saturday, early. and then, again, a few more showers throughout the day on sunday. still can get out and hang those lights. coats back on tomorrow morning. 27-34 degrees. a north wind at 5-10 miles per hour. tomorrow afternoon? again, late december, only in the 40s and running a couple of degrees below average. you know who's going to be out here tomorrow? the national christmas tree lighting. the sunsets at 4:46. the forecast, cool and crisp. 41 degrees with that switch being flipped on between five and 6:00 p.m. if that's not enough to get you in the mood, take a look at this. the lights are on there. that's in fair fax county. here's our four-day forecast. i'm not worried about the rain and i'm liking the warmth, still, for the week enld 65 the high. we're at 55 on sunday with a bit more rain.

our rain kwhanss could last until the early part of next week. >> it's december. woe're supposed to have some cold. >> we've got sports coming up next.

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that's stronger and bigger... and even hotter! actually, i just press this button. brew the coffee you love -- stronger, bigger, or hotter -- with the keurig vue. you know, you don't have to go to a bakery to find cup cakes. this time of year, you can go to almost any college campus in the ncaa. >> yeah, this entire month. translation, we had some easy games pt tonight's line-up dpnt include normal starters.

the result? a 32 point win. we start in the first half. maryland already up by 15. jake leman, over to charles mitchell. that's freshman to freshman to freshman. nice sbreer yor. shaq had 12. later in the half, seth allen, one of his eight assists. nick foust, 27-6 in the game. second half, off the hawks. maryland is on the move and it's the transfer from albany. draining one of five threes. maryland hits the century mark. free pizzas for everybody. not really, but that would be a nice promotion. they improve to 7-1 on the season. bmx action.

that's pretty good, right? tennessee taking on virginia. >> that's pretty cool. you know what wasn't? my tennessee volunteers just getting worked by the cavaliers. mitchell misses the shot. stays with it. good hustle there. mitchell had 13 points and 12 rebounds. second half, agt-point lead for virginia. joe harris adds three more with a 46-38 victory. apparently, tennessee just can't score more than 38 points. all right, folks, we're not going to dub the red skins-ravens, the battle of the beltways. but, fwr the first time in a while, we could actually have a team wearing burgundy and gold that's favored to beat the raichs on sunday. a former terp could play a very big role in this one. of course, we're talking about raven's receiver torey smith. the most dangerous receiver on baltimore's roster.

plenty of his family members are and were. he went to his first at fede kbrks field. and he remembers it vividly. >> i remember t.o. running around the field and warming up. i had an opportunity to talk to him after the game. we walked into the parking lot and we walked passed his car and he was playing like five minutes. it was pretty cool. i'll never forget, joe theisman asked me for an autograph. he told me no. i remember that, too. >> isn't it amazing how you remember those nings when people tell you no? >> oh, yeah. people remember stuff like that and never, ever forget it and pass it on. >> maybe he'll go up to torey

smith and say oh, i'

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howard county executive dropped gloves. he made a challenge to prince george's county today. it's about the game coming up sunday between the skins and the ravens. check it out. >> if, somehow, you somehow sneak a victory, which i can't imagine happening, even though you got lucky this past week against the giants, i will

proudly wear an rg3 jersey for an entire day. >> aldman says if the rhs win, he wants baker to wear the jersey of raven's defensive end. he wants them to do it at work on friday. baker says he's accepting the challenge. but he says he wants to up the ante. apparently, we will find out the revised terms of this deal tomorrow. and what's up with alman saying he can't imagine the red skins winning. watch this space, brksz ro.

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